What was lost Kumiko's story
by xXblackinkXx
Summary: Kenshin's family was completely destroied when he was a young boy, or so he thought. This is the story of Kumiko, sister of Kenshin. Each lived there life believing that the other had been killed. That was untill fate brought them together.
1. Chapter 1

Hi all, this is my first fanfic so I would really appreciate it if you told me what you thought of it. Thanks for stopping by.

p.s. Kenshin's name was originally shinta you find that out later in the manga series, just to clear up any confution.

Prologue

I reached my hand up to wipe the blood from my face. My body tensed as serge of pain ran through my face. It's so dark what's going on where am I, what just happened. I tried to turn and get up but my attempt was only met with serge of pain in my ribs.

Suddenly it all came flooding back to me! The other warriors they must had reached our village, I have to get back there and find my family. How long had I been unconscious hours, days even. I wobbled to my feet, the pain was almost unbearable but there was no way I was going to fall here.

The others they were at our door step we had to escape but mother and father wanted to stay and defend our small village. Truthfully I think it's a sad excuse for a village but it was all we had and we weren't about to let it crumble. At first when we heard whispers about the others arrival we just thought they were rumors. But as time passed they became more prevalent so a small army of men were gathered but we were greatly out numbered mother forced us to run, "Run as far as you can…" she called as our house fell from view. But one of the others must have seen us because before we knew it some of them where on our tail. There was nowhere to run! I was caught by the first blow I felt a sword cut into my side and then it all went black.

I guess you could call me lucky because they must have thought I was dead and left. My attention shifted to my side that was still bleeding profusely. I knelt down and tore a piece of cloth from my pants and created a makeshift band aid for my side.

Suddenly a wave of shock hit me! Shinta where was he did he survive we were running together he was trying to protect me where had he gone to?

"BROTHER….WHERE ARE YOU!" I screamed knowing there would be no answer. I was alone…but he can't be dead he must have returned to the village I thought even though I knew it wasn't true. I just wanted to believe it, I needed to believe it. Without thinking my legs broke into a run I no longer cared about the pain. Shinta was older than me and I always looked up to him. I knew if he where here he would never give in I had to reach home. By the time I reached the forests edge it was dusk and the darkness was growing by the second. My side was still bleeding and my feet had started as well considering that I had no shoes. The blood loss had taken quit a toll on me but I was desperate for any sign of life and kept running. Dust flew into the air as I just about skid to a stop. "no.." I breathlessly whispered my heart still pounding in my chest. My hands shook as I looked at the village now in shambles. My eyes searched for some sort of movement but there was only the breeze the spiraled the bits of rubble left from the buildings. I slowly dragged my body forward as I walked through the wreckage. I stood stone still as I stared in horror at my own home. I stood broken, all hope drained from my body. I wanted to cry but my body was to tired to even do that. My body began to feel heavy, I had lost to much blood. I dropped to the ground just trying to keep my eyes open.. Suddenly I heard foot steps traveling towards me in the distance. 'It's them…they have come back to gather anything that's left…they will kill me' Those were the only words that crossed my mind. I listened to my own breathing and the pounding of my heart in my ears. "no….no I will not die here…I can't, not yet" I stumbled to my feet, my knees shaking as they could barely hold me up. My eyes scanned around for anything that I could use to defend myself, they immediately picked up on the glint of a sword on the ground. My feet moved on their own, or so it seemed as I trudged over to the abandoned weapon. I began to cry as I came upon the person of witch the sword once belonged. It was a man who was once my neighbor. My mind couldn't wrap around the concept that my entire village was now completely obliterated, but I instinctively picked up the sword. Mother never let me have a sword because I was a girl, she would never allow it but Shinta had always taught me a little behind her back. The sword felt oddly off balance in my hands and my hands trembled a little as I struggled to place it in front of me. The sound of foot steps grew ever closer, until I saw an outline of a figure or maybe two in front of me. I swung with full force but only hit the air all I could see was there shadows in front of me. I swung again…but still nothing.

"Hah…look at this kid…who is she?" Said once of the figures

"Who cares, but she can barely stand, I say we out her out of her misery." Responded a gruff voice."

"Damn you!" My words came out impulsively. I let out a painful cough and lunged forward knowing this was it, this was all I had. All that ran through my mind was my family, my village I was giving all I had left for them. I let out a gasp for air as I struck something with full force. I had hit…my breath was heavy as I landed on the ground.

"Owww…damn..that little twerp actually got my arm!" Shouted a man

A small smile came across my face as a satisfaction filled my body. My knees shook as I dropped to the ground.

"Shinta…..I'm sorry….I just couldn't do it….I'm so sorry." I mumbled these words to the floating dust around me.

"Let me kill her!" Said the angry voice of the man again.

"Hmmm…no…not just yet…I think I could use this one." Replied a much calmer sounding voice from the second shadow.

My sight faded in and out as I saw more of the shadows approaching. I heard whispers around me but couldn't make out any words anymore. My eyes finally closed as everything went dark at last.

**Chapter one**

**10 years later in Tokyo…**

I sat up in a cold sweat. "Damn.." I muttered under my breath as I realized it was just the same reoccurring nightmare. It had been 10 years since that day but no matter what my mind never seemed to let it escape from my memories. How I had managed to survived that day was still a bit sketchy to me, but hey I'm not complaining. According to the story when I struck one of the others colleagues Zetsumi became impressed with my abilities at such a young age and decided to spare my life, but in return I owe him my unwavering loyalty. I can't say that it was truly a fair trade but I am alive and now rome the streets of Tokyo thieving for this gang of swordsman in the Mejia era.

I tried my best to suppress the thoughts of that reoccurring nightmare as I manmade my way out of room.

"Well look who is finally up." Said a sarcastic voice from across the room.

"Oh shut it Akio." I said with a slight grin, for even though we bickered a lot he was a very close friend of mine. Akio was older than me by a long shot and had been here since I was brought in at age 5. He was the one who had treated my wounds.

"Now now, Kumiko, be nice." Said the ever calm and familiar voice of Zetsumi.

"Don't I always." I said with a laugh as I pulled my hair into a messy bun and began preparing for today's work. A few of the other guys listened in on our conversation hoping for a fight. "Well I'm going see you tonight." I said as I made a turn for the door, just as my fingers well about to slide it open someone on the other side did it instead. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I stared into Masao's face. He walked past me without saying a word, but than again he never did. He was the man who I had struck was back when I first came across Zetsumi, he hated me and if it was up to him I would be dead by now. A heavy breath left my lungs as Masao vanished into another room.

"Man…ten years and he still resents you." Said Akio as he stated what was obvious to everyone else already.

I shot him a quick glare from across the room before I stepped outside shutting the door behind me. "Now where to today…well Saturday it always full of people at the market place with money." I said thinking out load. My pace was fairly quick and it only took around 15 minutes to get to the market place considering I resided fairly close to it. I immersed myself in the crowd and scanned the area for a good pickpocket candidate. My eyes settled on a short black haired boy who was buying some food from a stand. He obviously had money and couldn't be a threat to me in anyway; this was going to be an easy swipe.

I moved through the mass of people and came to the stand looking over it as if I was going to buy something, each moment bringing myself closer to this stranger. I turned quickly a purposely bumped into him. 'this is my chance.' I thought as my fingers pulled a bag of coins from his side and slipped it into my shirt. We both collided with the ground and I immediately sprang to my feet. "I'm so sorry , my bad." I said quickly as I began to walk away. Suddenly I felt my body come to a halt as someone had grabbed onto the back of my shirt.

"Not so fast girly, I know that trick, now give me back my money." Said the boy's childish voice.

"Excuse me!" I said acting shocked at his accusation as I tried around to face him.

"Oh please don't play dumb with me." He said his tone becoming a bit harsher.

"I said I don't know what you're talking about!" My voice came out loader than I expected but I was in a bit of a panic. My body moved without thinking, I grabbed the boys arm that was holding me and whipped him around quickly slamming him into the dirt.

"Oww…" ground his voice as he lay sprawled on the ground.

My eyes widened in panic as I looked at the small crowed that had gathered around the commotion I had just created.

"Yahiko are you alright?!" Came the voice of a concerned woman as she made her way through the crowd over to the boy. "What on earth is going on here?" She questioned.

I began to back up slowly hoping to vanish myself into the abyss of people. As I got closer to the crowd I smacked into what looked like a man but his body felt like a brick wall.

"Now missy where are you off to so fast?" Said the brown haired brick man. "Kaoru what happened?" He asked the woman.

"I'm trying to figure that out have so patience Sano." She replied sounding slightly annoyed.

"That girl stole my money." The boy on the ground sad pointing at me as he tried to get to his feet. It was obvious that he was dizzy and quit shaken up.

"Aw…I see we have a thief on our hands here." Said the man, his brown hair dangling in his face a bit as he spoke looking down at me. "Now give back the money." His voice cold this time.

I broke into a sprint through the crowd and the market place. I turned my head and saw the man chasing after me, but he wasn't alone. There seemed to be a strange looking long haired red head running with him. The man also had an X shaped scar on his left cheek which just added to his odd looking appearance.

"Sanosuke stop, this one really thinks your making to much out of this." Said the red head as he trotted along side.

"Kenshin just let me handle this ok, your charity isn't always logical." Retorted the brick man

I made a shard turn at the corner of a building and skid to a halt as I met with a dead end. "Damn." I muttered to myself as the two quickly caught up with me. The brown haired one called Sanosuke moved first. He swung his fist at me. I dodge it but just barely, and I felt it skim my cheek. I regained my ground and pulled a dagger from my pants pocket. The man swung again this time I wasn't quick enough and he hit my left shoulder. "Ahh!" I shouted as I heard it make a cracking sound. It burned and my arm hung slightly limp by my side. I had to work fast now, I swung my dagger at his stomach, it didn't stab him but a nice cut was all I needed and it was exactly what I got. It was enough to make him pull back. My breathing was short and quick as I grit my teeth in pain from my shoulder.

"Sano are you alright?!" asked the redheaded man

"Yeah I'm fine." He said barely choking out the words. "Just where the heck did that dagger come from, I didn't even see it." He said his voice sounding resentful

The red head turned to look at me. "This one does not wish to hurt you, but you leave this one no choice."

"Please your stupid friend got himself into this." I said impulsively trying to act more confident than I felt.

The man pressed his thumb on the hilt of his sword and popped it from his sheath just a bit. He moved without hesitation at me. My dagger snapped in two as soon as it blocked his first movement. I was weaponless; his next technique was fast I didn't even see it coming. It smacked my full on in the stomach, sending me back into the wall. I winced as I was almost positive I had just broken a rib or two. My body fell limply to the ground. The cold dirt on my skin was the last thing I could feel before I completely passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I let out a heavy sigh as I lie there on my back. "Akio…my side hurts…" I groaned as I slowly glanced around the room. My eyes shot open as I realized I wasn't anyplace I recognized. 'Wha…what am I doing here, better question where is here?' I thought as sat up. My panic subsided for a moment as I heard voices outside the door.

"I bandaged her shoulder, I'm pretty sure it was broken thanks to Sanosuke. None of her ribs were broken but she was defiantly bruised up. Other than that I think she will be fine. From the looks of it she can't be older than fifteen or so but…" Said a woman's voice.

"What is it Kaoru-dono?" Said a voice that I immediately recognized as belonging to the man with the X shaped scar and the crimson red hair.

"It's just that she had some horribly bad scars…and yet she is so young…I just wonder what happened?" Replied to woman's voice once more.

'That must be that woman who came through the crowd. Hmm…her name is Kaoru I guess.' I thought as it felt like spikes ran through my shoulder. I moved so that I was in a sitting position and my arms were no longer propping me up.

"This one feels quite responsible for her injuries, may I go see her?" He questioned to Kaoru, there was no response but I just assumed she must have nodded or something considering I heard a set of feet shuffling towards the door. It opened slowly and I saw the man step inside, he exchanged a few more words with Kaoru and than closed the door behind him.

"Oh you're already awake." He said with a slightly surprised look on his face. I glanced over at him and said nothing, almost pretending as if I hadn't heard him at all. Zetsumi had always taught me that it was best to stay silent in these situations and not give out information. "Kaoru-dono treated your injuries you were quite hurt, I'm sorry for my use of force." He said in a soft voice that sounded quite different than the one of the man who had hurt me before. Once again I said nothing, I simple starred at him with a glare on my face. I reached to my pocket for my dagger, but of course there was nothing there. I suddenly remembered that it had been broken in the fight. "If you're looking for your dagger I'm sorry I think we left it there." His eyes looked upon me kindly as she spoke, even thought I'm pretty sure he knew that I was going to use the dagger to attack him if I had it with me. I placed my hand back on the floor made and attempt to get to my feet. I was quickly brought back down to one knee seeing as my body wouldn't quite let me up yet. "All you alright miss?" He asked now standing next to me. He reached forward to prevent me from completely falling over.

"Don't touch me!" I blurted out breaking the silence as I slapped his hand with my own.

"This one understands." He said simply as I returned to my silent state. His long hair swayed back and forth as he walked out of the room. I laid back down just listening to my heart beating in my chest. 'Why did these people care for me, what can I possible offer them?' My mind was filled with questions and no answers.

Hours seemed to pass by as I changed positions every so often. My body ached everywhere; I listened to the constant shuffling of feet going by the door. Suddenly it began to slide open and again the same man entered. He placed a tray down beside me, with what looked to be soup and rice balls.

"This one would not like you to go hungry."

I didn't touch the food; I just stared at him with cold eyes.

"This one's name is Himura, Kenshin Himura. What is your name?"

I moved slightly and looked past Kenshin and saw Kaoru standing in the open door way with a frustrated look on her face. Moments of silence passed before they both left. As soon as they were gone I dove into the food, leaving nothing behind on the tray.

More time passed by until darkness finally came. This was it my chance to get out of here without interference. I slowly rose to my feet, I felt as if my body was screaming at me to get back to the floor. But of course I wasn't going to listen. My fingers curled around the doors edge and slid it open. I stepped into out into the cool darkness. My feet moved without instruction towards the gate.

"You can not be held here but this one would prefer that you stay until you are healed."

I froze on the spot and turned to look at him standing back by the buildings edge. His eyes stared at me unmoving. It was right than that I saw it, something familiar about his eyes. Kenshin turned away from me and returned to his room. 'How did he know…could he possibly have heard me? He was right though, I am in no condition to go anywhere. Maybe I will stay, just for tonight' I thought as I reentered the room as quietly as I had left it only moments before. It was impossible for me to sleep all I could think about were his eyes. Kenshin's eyes what was it about this stranger that I recognized.

Morning came quickly and I sat on the steps of the building watching the sun rise through the gate. My ears picked up the sound of footsteps passing behind me, I knew it was that Kenshin man again.

"My name is Kumiko." I said softly as he walked past.

The footsteps ceased.

"Welcome to the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu Dojo miss Kumiko." He said with a slight smile coming across his face.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey all, I have been getting lots of messages telling me to continue my fanfic and I would like to thank you all for the support, and for returning to my pages.

p.s. sorry about some of the grammar mistakes I'm trying to do better in that category.

**Chapter 3**

Kenshin sat down on the steps opposite me with his sword resting by his side.

"You know that's illegal right?" I said pointing at the weapon. "You could hurt someone with something like that." My voice came out a bit more sarcastic than expected.

He laughed "This one thinks that Kumiko is a sweet name, but this one wonders why a girl with such a sweet name is in the profession of thieving?"

It was obvious that he was trying to change the subject away from him and I couldn't exactly blame him. I didn't want to talk about myself so why on earth would he want to talk about him. My gazed move upward from the ground and met with his, Kenshin was looking at my face his expression slightly puzzled.

"Are you alright?" I asked returning his strange look.

"Yes, this one just thought you reminded him of someone."

I simply smiled. 'I knew it, he recognized me a little too. But why….well he reminded me of…no…he is long gone.' Once again my mind was full of answerless questions. Either way there was something about this man I just trusted. My thoughts were quickly interrupted by the joining of another person into our conversation.

"Morning Kenshin, what are you doing up so…" He caught himself mid sentence as the one called Sanosuke noticed me sitting on the stairs. The way he looked at me already let me know he wasn't really fond of me.

"How is your…errrmmm…cut?" I asked nervously hoping he wasn't anything like Misao, who resented me permanently.

"Fine." Sano said looking slightly agitated with me presence.

Kenshin eyed Sanosuke to make sure he wasn't going to do anything drastic. After a minute or so he let out a slight sigh of relief.

"Well this one should start breakfast before Kaoru-dono wakes up." Kenshin said his voice gentle as he began walking away

"Kenshin where are you from?" I blurted without giving a second thought to my words.

"Oh just an old village…this one guarantees you have never heard of it." He responded as he vanished around a corner.

"So how is your shoulder?" Sano asked noticing the bandages.

"Why is he so vague, I know I recognize him!" I said completely ignoring Sano's question.

"That's just the way Kenshin is." Came a childish voice from behind me.

"Whoa Yahiko your actually up early." Sano said sarcastically with a look of surprise on his face.

Yahiko sent a glare in Sano's direction before continuing. "Kenshin doesn't talk about himself, well not much of his past at least, he fought in the revolution but that's another story. As far we know he has no family and up until a few months ago he was merely a wander."

"But who does he remind you of?" Questioned Sanosuke.

"Oh heh…just my brother…but that's impossible he passed away along time ago. Not to mention my brother was a bit of a spazz…this man is way to calm." I said as I tried to flush the thought from my mind.

"Sure ok. But here is the real question where did you learn to fight like that?" Yahiko asked excitedly entirely brushing off the statement about my brother.

"Yeah I have to admit that's something I want to know too. I didn't even see your knife coming until it was a bit too late." Sano stated with a laugh.

I couldn't help but smile at this statement. "Oh…Zetsumi taught me most of it. The style is based on concealing a weapon until completely necessary. I do best with smaller weapons but can do swords too…kind of…well I need some work." I said sounding surprisingly cheerful considering we were discussing an art that kills people.

"Interesting, so Zetsumi is that your fathers name?" He questioned raising one eyebrow.

"No, not really, although he was the one who basically raised me, oh and Akio too. There were others always there to pull me out of a bind. Even though Zetsumi acts collected like he doesn't care I know he does. Well he has always had a soft spot for kids." I said as I thought back to many a time when they had saved my sorry butt. Of course I would never let them know that the only reason I was involved with Zetsumi was because he had destroyed my village and had decided to spare my life.

"Sorry to interrupt but breakfast is done." Kenshin said popping his head out past the corner.

The three of us followed him to where the food was set and placed ourselves around it. It was easy to tell that everyone was hungary. Only about five minutes had passed when the angry voice of Kaoru rang through the dojo.

"Kenshin!"

This was the first time I had ever seen Kenshin look even slightly scared.

"Kenshin I've told you to stop cooking around here! You do too much!" Kaoru said sounding perturbed.

'This woman makes no sense, why would she not want him to cook. It's not like he is doing anything else.' I thought as I watched her rant some more.

"Well his cooking is better than yours!" Yahiko said trying to hold back laughter as he shoved some rice in his mouth.

"Why you ungrateful little runt!" Shouted Kaoru as she began throwing things towards us. She began chucking any culinary tool she could get her hands on.

We all began scrambling around trying to avoid the objects shooting by us.

"Oro!!!" Came not one, but two voices. Both Kenshin and I turned to stare at each other for a moment, considering both of us had just said the same strange word. Immediately the thoughts of him reminding me of Shinta came flooding back to my mind.

"Haha look Kenshin you're not the only one who says that." Yahiko mumbled trying to break the moment's awkward silence.

"Yeah I guess so." I said as I looked over Kenshin once more. 'How did he know that…only my father said stupid things like he be…' I thought letting my mind wander off.

Once Kaoru had calmed down and we all finished eating. I walked off with Yahiko to try to show him some stuff that Zetsumi had taught me.

They watched as Yahiko and I walked out of hearing range.

"Hey Kenshin…that kid works for Zetsumi…ever heard of him."

Kenshin's eyes widened as he heard this information. "This one has heard of him…did she say why."

"Nope…all we know is that she has been there for a while." Sano responded.

I used a stick to show Yahiko what I knew since I no longer had a dagger. We spent most of the day just running around the dojo. I tried my best to pay attention when he was showing me something but my mind was truly somewhere else. Eventually Yahiko was called into the dojo by Kaoru for a lesson or something like that, and I was alone again. But I didn't mind much because by that time it was beginning to grow dark I was really getting sore. It occurred to me that I was still injured. I walked over to the stairs on which I was sitting at the start of the day. 'Heh look at this I'm exactly were I started.' I thought sarcastically trying to keep my mind from thoughts of the past. I still didn't completely understand why this single thought, this single theory of my brother consumed me so much. Had I truly missed my family that much, but I had spent most of my life without them each day trying to prove that I could do everything on my own. That I no longer needed them, for me this was the only way to fill the hole of the family I didn't have.

"So Sano says you work for Zetsumi?"

"Oro!" I said in panic as I jumped not expecting anyone to be behind me. "Oh it's just you, sheesh you really shouldn't do that to people." I said taking in a deep breath of air as I sat back down.

"This one had no intention of scaring you." He said as she leaned against one of the dojo's wooden pillars.

"Kenshin what is your name?" I asked calmly not exactly sure that what I was about to say next was the right thing to do. My mind was arguing with its self. 'Should I tell him who I think he is? What if I'm wrong? But what if I'm right? Is this even possible…everyone was killed…' My mind was running through a thousand things at once I didn't know what to do I had lost everything on that day, so why was I so afraid, what else did I have to lose.

"This one doesn't understand what you mean. My name is Kenshin as you just said."

I let out a heavy breath. "Are you sure…." I said as I looked up at his eyes. "Because last time I saw you your name was Shinta."

-To be continued in chapter four -


	4. Chapter 4

Hey all sorry this chapter has taken so long I have been crazy busy but here it is ok. But thanks for the messages you guys. It has gotten me back into the swing of things and have finally written this chapter.

It's seems a tad shorter than usual, sorry about that.

Hope you enjoy.

**Chapter 4**

Kenshin stood stone still now. The color from his face almost gone, it made me afraid a bit. For a second I thought I might have killed him, or maybe his heart had given out or something like that.

My body froze; I could have sworn that my heart stopped too. Time itself seemed to come to a solid standstill as I waited for a reaction.

The look on Kenshin's face seemed as fearful as my body felt. But there it was again, that look in his eyes that I recognized so well. What had I just done, I wanted to say something anything at that point, but my throat felt dry. I released a heavy sigh that seemed to get the hands of time moving forward again.

"How do you know of that name?" Came Kenshin's words, but his voice was different, it was practically a whisper and almost cold. His eyes were now fixed on mine, the look I recognized now washed away, into the face of the man who I had been hurt by only a day ago.

"I … I…um…" I muttered fumbling over my words. Once again I wanted to say something to him. I wanted to explain my words but at this moment my mind seemed completely useless. The only thing that was running through my heard now was getting away from him, from here.

Then out of no where came Sano. It was as if he had heard my mind screaming. "Kenshin what's going on?" He questioned his voice sounding harsh. Sano had obviously picked up on the tension in the air.

Kenshin shot a quick glance at Sano and than back at me before walking away without a word into the ever growing darkness.

"What did you do?" Came Sano's voice again as he stood glaring down at me. "Zetsumi put you up to this didn't he? You have been contacting him some how?!" He said practically shouting now. His hand reached forward and grabbed onto my shirt.

"No …no I…" I murmured now wishing that Sano hadn't come to break the silence between us. I wasn't quiet sure when I had gotten to my feet, but I must have at some point considering I was now standing. My hands were shaking a bit and I winced as Sano's grip tightened ever so slightly. I didn't know what to do, all I wanted now was for him to let go of me. Not giving it a second thought I moved forward and bit down hard on his arm. Sano grimaced and immediately pulled back his hand in pain. My face formed an unpleasant look and my body still hurt as I slowly began to back away.

"Where are going now?" Sano responded a glare across his face that looked almost cold enough to inflict death.

I was afraid, and once again the only thing I could do was run. Why did he think I had done something wrong, all I had done was simply ask a question. Without thinking I turned and ran. Of course running only made it look as if I had committed a crime, but what was I supposed to do I had no weapon. It was hard to see because of the darkness, but I didn't care. I remembered that surrounding the dojo was a forest of bamboo I knew that I could at least find sanctuary in that while it was night.

The only purpose that came to me was hiding for the night and than eventually finding my way back to Zetsumi. 'Why did I stay here? My stupid thoughts only got me into more trouble. I need to get back to where I belong.'

I wasn't even sure if Sano was chasing me. Either way I wanted to get away from the dojo. I had to accept the fact that all of them were gone. My family was killed that day and this was something I was just going to have to get over. 'But why . .. why them . ..' These words ran through my mind as I could just barely make out the tall overbearing stocks of bamboo in front of me. I tried to keep moving but my injuries only let me get a few feet past the forests edge. My lungs seemed to be gasping for air, but only small amounts of it came to relieve me. I gripped onto a bamboo tree for some support as I tried to catch my breath. The sound of Sano's footsteps coming after me could not be found by my ears but I still didn't want to stay in this spot for much longer. Everything here reminded me of them, Kenshin, the running, the pain and even that happiness I had felt if only for a small time reminded me of those I had lost. My breathing was starting to slow down, but my feet still didn't want to move. 'I don't understand. .. why did they all have to die, couldn't they have at least just taken me too. No now I'm stuck here in this life being a worthless slave to Zetsumi and simply wasting my own time.' I thought frustrated as I gave another failed attempt to get moving again.

"I don't want this, not anymore." I whispered to myself as my knees gave in. Tears began to streak down my face. It had been so long since I last cried for anything that I had almost forgotten the emotion completely. "No more." I mumbled as I felt someone's hand grasp hold of my arm. My immediate reaction was to try and jerk my arm out of their grip. As I struggled a little the hand remained but the grip wasn't tight or threatening.

"Please this one wishes for no more sorrow Kumiko." Came a soft voice, as a hand whipped a tear from my cheek.

I looked up and saw Kenshins face, as kind and familiar as ever. "I'm. .. I'm sorry." I said softly. His response took no words as he pulled my body in quickly wrapping his arms around me. It was at that moment that I knew he understood who I was. For that second everything was alright again, it was as if he had never been gone.

-Continued in chapter 5 –

Ok so here is the deal, if you like the way it is now than don't say anything, but if you want to continue on with the story for a chapter of two more than let me know and I might continue if people say something.

Yours truly

-blackink-


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